William "Red" Whittaker

Professor of Robotics

William "Red" L. Whittaker, Fredkin University Research Professor, is a world-renowned roboticist who has helped to develop more than 60 robots, breaking new ground in space exploration, hazardous waste remediation, agriculture and the development of autonomous vehicle technology. Whittaker founded the Field Robotics and National Robotics Engineering centers, which are part of CMU's cutting-edge Robotics Institute. In 2007, he led Carnegie Mellon's Tartan Racing team to victory as its robotic SUV took first place and the $2 million grand prize in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Urban Challenge. Today, he is leading an effort to win the $20 million Google Lunar X PRIZE for landing a robot on the moon and sending video of its landing back to earth.